More Colleges Team With For-Profit Web-Based Educator

As the demand for online learning continues to grow, another 17 prominent universities Wednesday joined Coursera, a company that hosts free Internet-based college classes.

The new additions—including Columbia University, Emory University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine—give the for-profit company a larger footprint in the increasingly crowded market for the so-called "massive, open online courses."

Coursera, which was founded in fall 2011 by two Stanford University professors, signed its first partners and brought in $16 million in venture backing in April. It now has 33 partners.

Under the current business model, universities develop their own classes, and Coursera provides the online platform and operational support free of charge.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is just one in a growing field of online-course providers. Udacity, Udemy and edX—the latter of which is backed by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—are all competing with Coursera for attention, students and venture dollars.

Despite the fact that many of the providers and schools are still trying to figure out how to turn the free-online-learning model into a steady revenue stream, these experimental courses have gained substantial ground in the world of education, with some industry analysts speculating that they could someday supplant traditional campus programs.

Although the company has no firm deadline for turning a profit, Coursera is weighing options, including charging for certificates or selling student data to recruiters, said co-founder Andrew Ng. Charging students an upfront fee isn't on the table, he added.

Coursera offers about 200 courses to more than 1.3 million registered users. But not all registered users participate in classes, which generally include taped lectures, interactive quizzes and exams. About 30% of students who begin courses actually finish them, according to the company.

Many students in online courses already have degrees and are seeking a career boost; others are using the classes to get a taste of higher education.

Kate Popp, an account manager at Crimson Hexagon Inc., a Boston social-media analytics company, has signed up for 10 Coursera classes this fall and winter in subjects including statistics, mathematics and global policy challenges.

"Right now, grad school doesn't really work with my schedule," said Ms. Popp, 23 years old, who graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 2011 and is considering an M.B.A. program or a masters in literary theory. "Free courses online seem like the best way to get that education" without enrolling in a degree program, she said.

Providers of massive, open online courses could threaten the business of some commuter colleges and for-profit online institutions. A Moody's Investors Service report from last week warned that the rise of free, online courses could erode the value propositions of those costlier programs.

University of Florida, a new Coursera partner that plans to offer six classes on the platform next year, looked into a number of free online models before signing with the company, said Andy McCollough, associate provost for teaching and technology.

The University of Florida brought in about $70 million in gross revenue last year from its 100-plus online undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates. The school plans to use Coursera partly as a way to refine its paid offerings, as well as to fulfill its public mission of granting access to a broad swath of students, Mr. McCollough said.

Brown University, another new Coursera partner, is also wading deeper into online classes with this venture. That school, which has some "blended" online and in-person courses at its school of continuing education, will begin offering three courses in comparative literature, archaeology and computer science next summer.

Katherine Bergeron, Brown's dean, says the technological advances—such as watching lectures at home, rather than in a lecture hall—should make the residential student's experience "more collaborative and interactive."

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